Bathroom body, hand, and hair drier

ABSTRACT

A wall mounted drier having separately opening louvers, and nozzles for drying separately or in combination the hands, hair, feet or the entire body and including dual squirrel cage turbines for driving heated air at a sufficient velocity to effect rapid drying.

United States Patent Duerre [451 Apr. 22, 1975 BATHROOM BODY, HAND, ANDHAIR DRIER Inventor: Dennis L. Duerre, 1513 Yukon Dr.,

Sunnyvale. Calif. 94087 Filed: July 8, 1974 Appl. No.: 486,310

U.S. Cl. 34/90; 34/233; 219/371 Int. Cl. F26b 19/00 Field ofSearch..34/90, 151, 163,218, 34/230-234, 240, 241, 243 R; 219/370, 371;165/121, 122

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1969 Chancellor, Jr. 34/233FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 257,762 2/1967 Germany 219/371 PrinmryE.\'uminerl(enneth W. Sprague Assistant E.run1iner.lames C. YeungAnurney, Agent, or F irmJames R. Cypher [57] ABSTRACT A wall mounteddrier having separately opening louvers, and nozzles for dryingseparately or in combination the hands, hair, feet or the entire bodyand including dual squirrel cage turbines for driving heated air at asufficient velocity to effect rapid drying.

5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures BATHROOM BODY, HAND. AND HAIR DRIERBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Devices for drying the hands consisting of afan blower and electric heating coil are in common use in public restrooms. These devices eliminate the need for towels. waste receptaclesand attendants to re-supply the towel dispensers and carry away soiledtowels. Other devices such as the portable hair dryer are in common usein many households which also incorporate a small fan which drivesambient air past an electrical heating coil.

While most devices are single purpose devices. only one device. US. Pat.No. 3.449.838 has attempted to serve a multiple purpose and even thisdevice has been limited to drying clothes. hands. and hair. None of thedevices noted have been able to dry the entire body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The gist of the present invention is the use ofdual vertically mounted squirrel cage turbines which are spacedhorizontally so that the entire body of a person can be dried quicklyand soothingly by heated air. Further. the drier of the presentinvention may be used for separately drying the hair. hand. or feet bymerely selectively opening louvers and air nozzles.

An object of the present invention is to completely eliminate the needfor towels in bath rooms. especially in hotels and motels by providing acomplete body drying unit.

Another object is to provide a body drying unit as described which ismounted flush in the wall of a room thereby eliminating the need foradditional floor area for accommodation of the unit. Such a uniteliminates the need for wall area normally used for towel racks and alsoeliminates the space requirements normally devoted to storing cleantowels and a separate storage area for soiled towels. In many instances,use of the drier results in a net gain in space utilization.

A further object is to increase profits to motel. hotel. and swimmingclub owners by eliminating the need for towels. Loss of towels due tostealing is completely eliminated. Costs of laundering. storing cleanand soiled towels. and distributing the towels is eliminated.

Still another object is to reduce the time necessary to prepare a motelor hotel room for occupancy and to reduce daily housekeeping chores byeliminating the need for picking up soiled towels from the bathrooms.bed rooms. halls. closets. and other places where people cast a wettowel. Elimination of towels can contribute greatly to maintaining anorderly appearance to athletic club and school locker rooms where goodhousekeeping rules are difficult to enforce. A complete body dryingdevice in rooms adjacent shower rooms in public pools can eliminate theneed to take a towel to such a facility. Use of the drier in motelswould eliminate the repugnant but common practice of using towels asshoe shine cloths.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a devicewhich can serve as a supplement or even the sole source of heat in bathrooms or in rooms adjacent shower rooms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thedevice constructed in accordance with the present invention mounted in awall of a room.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the device shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the device shown in FIG. 2 with the frontpanel removed for purposes of showing the working apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a cross section of the device shown in FIG. 4 taken along lineS5.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the device shown in FIG. 2 with the top panelremoved for purposes of clarity.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view of one of the louvers such asthe one shown in FIG. 6 within the circular indicated line 77.

FIG. 8 is a cross section of the hair drier nozzle shown in FIG. 1 takenalong line 8-8 with the nozzle in the closed position.

FIG. 9 is a cross section of the hair drier nozzle shown in FIG. 1 takenalong line 9-9 and showing the nozzle in the open position.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged front view of the hair dryer nozzle with portionsin cross section and a mid-portion removed for purposes of economy ofillustration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION The bodydrying apparatus of the present invention consists briefly of anenclosed elongated housing I having an air inlet port 2 adjacent an endand a plurality of air discharge openings 3-11 formed in a side 12 whichis in a generally vertical plane and said openings are located in saidside a selected vertical distance for effectively blowing heated airover an area about the height of a human being; a squirrel cage turbine13 mounted on a generally vertical shaft 14 within said housing; ashroud 16 mounted within said housing and forming a passage between saidinlet port and said squirrel cage turbine and from said turbine to saiddischarge openings; an electrical heating element 17 mounted in saidpassage between said inlet opening and said squirrel cage turbine; andmotor means 18 for driving said squirrel cage turbine.

Specifically. the housing consists of front and back panels 12 and 19.side panels 21 and 22, and top and bottom panels 23 and 24. These panelsmay be made of sheet metal or other material which can withstand theheat generated by the heating element. The housing has a widthsufficient to house the necessary equipment. A thickness ofapproximately 4 /2 inches is preferable so that it can be fitted withina standard wall. The height may be about 5 feet so that the openings canbe placed so as to dry the entire body merely by rotating the body.

The heart of the invention is the use of one or more squirrel cageturbines of standard design having slotted openings 26. A singlesquirrel cage turbine would be possible. but construction may befacilitated by using a plurality of turbines 13a. 13b. 13c. and 13d asshown in FIG. 4. The vertical shaft 14 may be supported by bearings 27,28, 29, and 30. Turbines having a diameter of about 4 inches diameter asan illustrative example would be sufficient.

The electrical heating element 17 is placed near the inlet opening 2 inthe passage formed by the shroud leading to the turbine. A standardelectrical resistance heating element having a B.t.u. capacity selectedfor the particular installation is used. As an example. a I000 wattheater element would be adequate for most installations.

A motor 18 is operatively connected to shaft 14 of the turbine by asuitable coupling means. A switch 32 is mounted on the cabinet forturning the motor on and off. As an example, the motor may be aone-tenth horse power high temperature electric motor.

Preferably. the discharge openings are vertically aligned so that theentire body is dried at once. To insure even more rapid drying. atsecond row of discharge outlets 8, 9, 10, and 11 are provided. Theseopenings are spaced about 1 foot apart in a housing which is about 2feet in width.

' The first shroud 16 includes a divider member 42 which separates theturbine from the control members and a second divider member 43 whichencloses the other side of the first turbine.

The second shroud 44 encloses the second turbine and forms a passagefrom the inlet opening to the outlet openings. The shroud includes apanel member 46 and a panel member 47.

In order to insure an adequate supply of cool air. a second inletopening 48 may be provided in the upper portion of the housing. Thisopening supplies cool air which is heated by a second electricalresistance heating element 49 which heats the air and is sucked into theupper opening of either of the squirrel cage turbines.

A hair drying means is provided with the drier of the present inventionand is one of its important features. An approximately 1 inch opening 51is formed in the side of shroud panel 47 near the upper end and an elbowfitting 52 inserted therein. An elongated flexible hose 53 is connectedto the elbow fitting which has a length sufficient that the nozzle 54can be manuvered about the head.

end 57 and having an elongated slot 58 in its sidewall.

An outer elongated tube 59 is open at end 61 and has an elongated slot62 in its sidewall. The inner tube is rotatable about its elongated axisfor movement of the slit in and out of registration with the slit in theouter tube. The inner tube is formed with a manually engageableprotrusion 63 for rotation of the inner tube on its rotational axis. a

A dual thermostat 64 connected to relay 66 and connected to the heatingelements through circuits 67 and 68 permits selection of the temperatureof air desired. Safety timers may be connected to automatically turn offthe heating elements and motors after a selected period of time.

In the present application. all of the openings may be closed exceptopening 4 which is located at about hand height. As shown in FIG. 11, aplurality of louvers 69 pivot about pins 71 and permit hot air to movethrough the openings as represented by arrows 72. When all openings areclosed except the louvers of opening 4, a greater pressure is exertedand more rapid drying of the hands is effected with less expenditure ofenergy.

Openings 3 and 11 located at the bottom of the housing are formed withlouvers similar to the louvers shown in FIG. 11. Openings 3 and 11 maybe used for drying the feet. All openings may be closed except openings3 and 11 to effect more rapid drying of the feet A cross section of oneof the standard openings 5-10 is shown in FIG. 7. The closure meansincludes a tubular member 73 mounted for rotation about a vertical axis74 between a first open position shown in dotted lines and a secondclosed position shown in solid lines. The tubular members are fullyenclosed except for an inlet slit 76 and an outlet slit opening 77. Thetubular member is mounted in a seat member 78 having a slit 79 thereinfor selective registration with the inlet slit of the tubular memberwhen the tubular member is in the first position. As a further designfeature, the tubular member may be formed with an elongated end 81adjacent the slot so that it is easier to manually engage the tubularmember with the hand or fingers to rotateand also to direct the warm aircurrents.

In operation. in order to dry only the hands, all of the openings exceptopening 4 are closed. The motors are started to rotate the turbines andthe heating element is turned on. Cool air enters inlet vents 2 and 48.Cool air is drawn past heating elements 17 and 49 and moves downwardlythrough the center of squirrel cage turbines 13d and 130 and ispropelled outwardly by the blades 26 to the inner chamber 82. At thesame time air sucked through vent 2 passes heating element 17 and movesupwardly through squirrel cage turbines 13a and 13b and outwardlythrough the turbine into chamber 82. The pressure build-up in chamber 82causes the heated air to be propelled outwardly throught the louvers 69in openings 4.

Operation of the device as a body drier requires the opening of all ofthe vents 4-11. A person standing midway between the row of openings 37and the second row 8-11 would be rapidly dried due to the horizontallyspaced vertical rows of openings. The second turbine is turned on andoff by switch 35.

Operation of the hair drier merely requires opening of the nozzles aspreviously explained, and passing the nozzle near the head. The flexibletubing 53 may be formed with accordion-type pleats so that the length ofthe tube may be extended. As shown in the drawings, the housing may beformed with an inset 83 to store the flexible tubing and nozzle 54.

1 claim:

1. A body drying apparatus comprising:

a. an enclosed elongated housing having an air inlet port adjacent anend and a plurality of air discharge openings formed in a side which isin a generally vertical plane and said openings are located in said sidea selected vertical distance for effectively blowing heated air over anarea about the height of a human being;

b. a squirrel cage turbine mounted on a generally vertical axis withinsaid housing;

c. a shroud mounted within said housing and forming a passage betweensaid inlet port and said squirrel cage turbine and from said turbine tosaid discharge openings;

d. an electrical heating element mounted in said passage between saidinlet opening and said squirrel cage turbine;

e. motor means for driving said squirrel cage turbine;

f. a manually operable closure means mounted in said air dischargeopenings for selectively closing said discharge openings;

g. said discharge openings being located in said housing side in aplurality of generally vertical aligned rows;

h. a second squirrel cage turbine mounted in said housing generallyparallel to said first squirrel cage turbine; and

. a second shroud separating said first turbine from said second turbinethroughout the length of said turbines and connecting said inlet andoutlet opening with said second squirrel cage turbine.

2. A body drying apparatus as described in claim 1 comprising:

a. an elongated flexible conduit operatively connected to an outletopening;

b. a nozzle operatively connected to said flexible con duit and having avalve movable between a first open position and a second closedposition; and

c. said nozzle being adapted for hand held operation to dry the hair.

3. A body drying apparatus as described in claim 1 comprising:

a. at least one of said openings at about hand height being formed witha plurality of louvers movable between a first closed position and asecond open position.

4. A body drying apparatus as described in claim 1 comprising:

a. a plurality of said manually operable closure means including tubularmembers mounted for rotation about a vertical axis between a first openposition and a second closed position and said tubular members beingfully enclosed except for an inlet slit and an outlet slit: and

b. said tubular members being mounted in a seat member having a slittherein for selective registration with said inlet slit of said tubularmember when said tubular member is in said first position.

5. A body drying apparatus as described in claim 2 comprising:

a. said nozzle valve consisting of an inner elongated tube open at oneend and having an elongated slot in its sidewall;

b. an outer elongated tube. open at one end and having an elongated slotin its sidewall;

c. said inner tube being rotatable about its elongated axis for movementof said slit in and out of registration with said slit in said outertube: and

d. manually engageable means mounted on said inner tube for movement ofsaid tube about its rotational axis.

1. A body drying apparatus comprising: a. an enclosed elongated housing having an air inlet port adjacent an end and a plurality of air discharge openings formed in a side which is in a generally vertical plane and said openings are located in said side a selected vertical distance for effectively blowing heated air over an area about the height of a human being; b. a squirrel cage turbine mounted on a generally vertical axis within said housing; c. a shroud mounted within said housing and forming a passage between said inlet port and said squirrel cage turbine and from said turbine to said discharge openings; d. an electrical heating element mounted in said passage between said inlet opening and said squirrel cage turbine; e. motor means for driving said squirrel cage turbine; f. a manually operable closure means mounted in said air discharge openings for selectively closing said discharge openings; g. said discharge openings being located in said housing side in a plurality of generally vertical aligned rows; h. a second squirrel cage turbine mounted in said housing generally parallel to said first squirrel cage turbine; and i. a second shroud separating said first turbine from said second turbine throughout the length of said turbines and connecting said inlet and outlet opening with said second squirrel cage turbine.
 1. A body drying apparatus comprising: a. an enclosed elongated housing having an air inlet port adjacent an end and a plurality of air discharge openings formed in a side which is in a generally vertical plane and said openings are located in said side a selected vertical distance for effectively blowing heated air over an area about the height of a human being; b. a squirrel cage turbine mounted on a generally vertical axis within said housing; c. a shroud mounted within said housing and forming a passage between said inlet port and said squirrel cage turbine and from said turbine to said discharge openings; d. an electrical heating element mounted in said passage between said inlet opening and said squirrel cage turbine; e. motor means for driving said squirrel cage turbine; f. a manually operable closure means mounted in said air discharge openings for selectively closing said discharge openings; g. said discharge openings being located in said housing side in a plurality of generally vertical aligned rows; h. a second squirrel cage turbine mounted in said housing generally parallel to said first squirrel cage turbine; and i. a second shroud separating said first turbine from said second turbine throughout the length of said turbines and connecting said inlet and outlet opening with said second squirrel cage turbine.
 2. A body drying apparatus as described in claim 1 comprising: a. an elongated flexible conduit operatively connected to an outlet opening; b. a nozzle operatively connected to said flexible conduit and having a valve movable between a first open position and a second closed position; and c. said nozzle being adapted for hand held operation to dry the hair.
 3. A body drying apparatus as described in claim 1 comprising: a. at least one of said openings at about hand height being formed with a plurality of louvers movable between a first closed position and a second open position.
 4. A body drying apparatus as described in claim 1 comprising: a. a plurality of said manually operable closure means including tubular members mounted for rotation about a vertical axis between a first open position and a second closed position and said tubular members being fully enclosed except for an inlet slit and an outlet slit; and b. said tubular members being mounted in a seat member having a slit therein for selective registration with said inlet slit of said tubular member when said tubular member is in said first position. 